"Boom ......"

The muzzle of a massive KV-1 tank flashed with fire, and the body retreated slightly, canceling out the recoil of the F-34 tank. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"Bang dang!"

Almost at the same time, an additional white dot appeared on an 80mm armor plate placed on a cement base 500 meters in front of the firing KV-1 tank.

"Didn't break through!"

German Chancellor Adolf in a brown military uniform. Hitler put down the telescope in his hand, turned his head to Hesmann beside him, and said: "Reich Marshal, it seems that the Soviets have developed a large and useless tank. ”

"Actually, it's not that bad, the KV-1 is a good tank, and if you can replace it with a Soviets 85mm anti-aircraft gun, it will still pose a big problem."

Hitler smiled: "But in the Battle of Warsaw, the Soviets could not count on the T-85 and KV-34 with 1mm anti-aircraft guns, so we would have won." ”

The T-34, KV-1 and KV-2 tanks that Moder sent back to Berlin have already been sent to the weapons test site in Tsosen. When Hitler heard the news, he rushed to Tsosen with Hersmann, wanting to see the style of Soviet tanks.

However, after watching the shooting demonstrations of the T-34 and KV-1, Hitler somewhat despised the Soviets.

Such a large tank is actually equipped with a cannon that can't even penetrate 80mm steel plates. What is this tank for? Isn't it waste?

But Hersman did not see it that way, because he knew that the T-34/76 and KV-1/76 were just the beginning. After Comrade Stalin suffered from the No. 4H tank and the "Tiger" and "Panther", tanks and tank destroyers with 85mm, 100mm and even 122mm were installed.

Moreover, the bodies of the T-34 and KV-1 are still quite large, and they are fully qualified to get tank guns of 85mm caliber, and the USSR also happened to have such guns. If nothing else, the T-34/85 and KV-1/85 will appear as soon as the muddy season is over next spring.

Therefore, as the leading brother of the Wehrmacht, Defense Minister Hersmann had to prepare for a rainy day and prepare some weapons for the Wehrmacht that could deal with the T-34/85, KV-1/85 and IS series heavy tanks/tank destroyers.

Oh, and this weapon is already there. The Tiger and Panther tanks, which were disliked by many commanders of armored units, were the killer tools against Soviet heavy tanks/tank destroyers.

However, the feedback from the front is not unreasonable, and the "Tiger" and "Panther" tanks are now facing problems such as insufficient mobility, insufficient reliability and excess firepower.

Both of these tanks are too heavy relative to the roads of Eastern Europe and the USSR, and they are not old tanks that have long been "ripe" like No. 4, and the reliability of equipment is very problematic.

Moreover, the accessories of the "Tiger" and "Panther" tanks were not universal with the No. 4 tank and the No. 3 assault gun. If an armored division is equipped with some "Tigers" and "Panthers", then the mobility and logistics of this armored division will be in trouble.

Therefore, in his report to the General Staff, Guderian proposed that the "Tiger" tanks be organized into a separate "heavy armored battalion" (which is more reasonable than the configuration of two tanks in the heavy armored battalion) to carry out the task of breaking through in key areas.

At the same time, the "Panther" tank was temporarily discontinued, and it was replaced by the No. 4 tank destroyer based on the chassis of the No. 4H tank equipped with the KWK42L/70 gun. If the resources for the production of the "Panther" tank are invested in the No. 4 tank destroyer, it will definitely be able to achieve a satisfactory quantity.

Unlike Germany, which lacked oil in the past, Germany, which now controls the large oil fields in the Middle East, has more and more oil that can be used, so it can engage in tank seas like the Soviet Union.

Under these circumstances, the time-consuming and laborious "Panther" and "Tiger" are of course not as popular as the No. 4 tank destroyer -- the "Panther", which is still in the trial production stage, will need 30,000 man-hours to produce one, and it will take at least 20,000 man-hours to build one after mass production.

The No. 4H tank only needs 5,000 man-hours, and the No. 4 tank destroyer has no turret, so 3,000 man-hours is definitely enough. In this way, the production of 1 Panther tank will produce at least 6 Tank 4 destroyers. If more than 6,000 tanks of the Panther series in history are turned into 36,000 tank destroyers of the No. 4 tank and No. 4H tank, Germany's chances of winning will definitely be greater...... The premise is, of course, that there is enough fuel and raw materials, but this is not a problem for Germany today.

Moreover, because the No. 4 tank destroyer uses a large number of H-type parts of the No. 4 tank, there will be no logistical support problems after they are incorporated into the armored forces. As long as the No. 4 tank destroyer is equipped with the KWK42L/70 gun, it can have similar firepower to the "Panther" tank, which is enough to defeat the Soviet heavy tanks that have appeared or will appear when fighting with the No. 4H type.

Therefore, after consulting with the Chief of the General Staff Kesselring, the First Quartermaster Halder and the Armored Corps Director Kleist, and the Director of the General Armaments Speer, Hersman had agreed to develop a tank destroyer based on the No. 4H tank site and the KWK42L/70 gun.

In addition, Guderian's proposal to temporarily stop the production of the "Panther" tank was also approved by Hersman and others. Because the Type 4H tank now looks good enough to deal with Soviet tanks, there is no need to replace them with "Panthers" at all.

The use of medium tanks such as the "Panther" as "heavy tanks" has encountered the problem of conflict with the role of the "Tiger" tank. There was absolutely no need for Germany to equip two heavy tanks at the same time, and it was indeed inappropriate to equip a battalion-sized combat unit with two tanks - this was an experimental formation, not an actual combat one.

Therefore, the nine heavily armored battalions that have been formed and the six heavily armored battalions that are being formed will gradually replace the "Panther" tanks with the "Tiger" tanks, and the number of heavy tank companies will be increased from two to four.

However, Hersmann did not intend to abandon the "Panther", a very good medium tank, but ordered the MAN company and Daimler-Benz to improve the "Panther" tank (the Panther tank exposed many problems in the field trial). At the same time, it was called for the Panther 2 to be developed as part of the E-series (E50) as part of the E-series tank, which would become the ultimate land killer for Germany in this world war!

……

After returning to the Chancellery in Berlin from Tsosen's weapons testing ground, Hitler suddenly asked Hersmann, "Will Stalin lose confidence in the offensive because his tanks are useless?" Maybe the Battle of Warsaw was over before it began. ”

"It's impossible," said Hersmann, shaking his head with a smile, pointing to a large map marked with troop numbers and battle lines on both sides, "and the present calm is the calm before the storm!" Stalin was using this time to drive more troops across the Bug River...... According to the reconnaissance of the Air Force, the Soviet army has built more than a dozen pontoon bridges on the Bug River, and thousands of trucks pass through them every day, bringing in a large number of materials and personnel.

The General Staff estimates that 1.5 million to 2 million Red Army troops have crossed the Bug River. Most of this will be used to attack Warsaw, and the rest of the forces will be used to guard against our Army Group North in the direction of the Baltic and to encircle Lviv. ”

"More than a million people will be used to attack Warsaw?" Hitler gasped, this is not a small number, "How many of us are in Warsaw?" ”

"Soon there will be 300,000 men," Hersman said, "and the 10th Anti-aircraft Artillery Division of the Air Defense Corps and the Hungarian Mechanized Corps are rushing to Warsaw." ”

Like another plane, present-day Hungary, or more precisely the Croatian-Hungarian Kingdom, was the most loyal follower of the Third German Reich. After the Soviet Union declared war on Germany, the Croatian-Hungarian kingdom immediately followed suit by declaring war on the Soviet Union. And also sent reinforcements to the Germans, a total of 2 corps, namely the Hungarian 8th Army and the Hungarian Mechanized Corps.

Among them, the Hungarian 8th Army was sent to Krakow, entering the operational sequence of the 17th Army, which belonged to Army Group Center. And the Hungarian Mechanized Corps was sent to Warsaw, where it joined the operational sequence of the 6th Army.

"Hungarian Mechanized Army?" Hitler shook his head, as if he did not trust the Hungarians in combat.

"Leader, this is an elite unit, trained by our German instructors." Hersmann said, "The tank was equipped with a tank made by the Hungarian Manfred. The Turan 1 tank and the 105mm Zlini 2 assault gun produced by Weiss (a large Hungarian consortium that produces everything from tank cannons to canned pork) are still very good. ”

Under Hersmann's leadership, German arms companies are now quite willing to share their technology with the European Axis powers. The Croatian-Hungarian kingdom, ruled by the Habsburgs, was an important target of German technical assistance. Both the Turan 1 tank and the Zlini assault gun were designed and manufactured with the help of German companies. Among them, the Turan 1 borrowed many of the techniques of the No. 3 tank, and its performance was similar to that of the No. 3 tank, but it was slightly weaker, with only one 40mm anti-tank gun.

The Zlini 2 assault gun is an assault gun developed on the territory of the Turan tank, equipped with a 105mm 20.5x caliber howitzer, which is a very sharp anti-infantry weapon. (To be continued.) )